Moscow sending Ukrainians to Russia as 'hostages' to pressure for surrender, officials claim

Ukraine has accused Russia of forcibly relocating hundreds of thousands of civilians to Russia from devastated Ukrainian cities. Credit: AP

Moscow is forcibly taking hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian civilians to Russia to use as “hostages” to pressure Kyiv to surrender, officials have said.

Ukraine officials say Russian troops are confiscating passports from Ukrainian citizens then moving them to “filtration camps” in Ukraine’s separatist-controlled east before sending them to distant, economically depressed areas in Russia. Lyudmyla Denisova, Ukraine’s ombudsperson, said 402,000 people, including 84,000 children, had been moved against their will.

But Russia deny this, saying the civilians are going of their own free will. Ukraine’s rebel-controlled eastern regions are predominantly Russian-speaking, and many people there have supported close ties to Moscow. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said 6,000 of those forced to Russia were from the devastated port city of Mariupol, and 15,000 more people in a section of Mariupol under Russian control have had their identifying documents confiscated.

The ministry said the Russians intend to “use them as hostages and put more political pressure on Ukraine".

But Russian Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev said the roughly 400,000 people evacuated to Russia since the start of the war were from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Moscow separatists have been fighting for control for nearly eight years.

Ukrainian emergency employees work at a maternity hospital damaged by shelling in Mariupol, Ukraine, earlier in March. Credit: AP
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Marking one month since the war began, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy used his nightly video address to rally Ukrainians to "move toward peace, move forward.” “With every day of our defence, we are getting closer to the peace that we need so much. … We can’t stop even for a minute, for every minute determines our fate, our future, whether we will live." He said thousands of people, including 128 children, have died in the first month of the war. Across the country, 230 schools and 155 kindergartens have been destroyed. Cities and villages “lie in ashes,” he said.  In the capital of Kyiv, ashes of the dead are piling up at the main crematorium because so many relatives have left, leaving urns unclaimed.But Mr Zelenskyy added that Russia would have not gone into Ukraine had it known what was waiting for it, as the Ukrainian people have been able to stall or hold back most Russian assaults across the frontline.

The 44-year-old thanked EU and NATO leaders for pledging more support for Ukraine and called on EU leaders to fast-track Ukrainian membership in the bloc, adding the "world has applied destructive sanctions and we are discussing applying more."

The United States and European Union announced a new partnership to reduce the continent’s reliance on Russian energy. Ursula von der Leyen, head of the EU’s executive arm, said it is important for Europe to shift away from Russia and toward energy suppliers that are trustworthy, friendly and reliable.

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US president Joe Biden began a two-day visit to Poland on Friday to underscore his commitment to protect a key NATO member on Ukraine’s doorstep, and thank Poles for their generous welcome to refugees fleeing Russia's invasion. Poland has accepted the lion’s share of the more than 3.5 million Ukrainians who have fled the month-old war- nearly 20% of Warsaw’s population is currently refugees. Mr Biden will be welcomed by President Andrzej Duda, who is allied with a right-wing political party accused of eroding democratic norms. On Thursday, the UK said it was sanctioning 65 more companies and individuals over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The targets include Russia’s largest private bank and a the stepdaughter of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Ukraine has managed to reoccupy towns and defensive positions up to 21 miles east of the capital, Kyiv.

A cemetery worker walks amid marble urns that contains the cremated remains of people inside Baikove's cemetery offices, in Kyiv, Ukraine. Credit: AP

In its latest intelligence update, posted on Twitter, the MoD said: “Ukrainian counter-attacks, and Russian forces falling back on overextended supply lines, has allowed Ukraine to reoccupy towns and defensive positions up to 35 kilometres east of Kyiv.

“Ukrainian forces are likely to continue to attempt to push Russian forces back along the north-western axis from Kyiv towards Hostomel Airfield.

“In the south of Ukraine, Russian forces are still attempting to circumvent Mykolaiv as they look to drive west towards Odesa, with their progress being slowed by logistic issues and Ukrainian resistance.”

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